Family Ties
by gamegirl244
Summary: It was just a routine nightwatch for Judas, but after Kyle awakens from a nightmare, the two reflect upon their past experiences with eachother


Author's Note: Hiya! It's me again! Back with another one-shot for you all!!

Okay, this one was…concocted in my mind from countless hours of boredom in English Class. It could have come any other time, but the rest of my classes this semester are usually occupied by something else (mainly my iPod, or, like in Science Class, me playing Fire Emblem on my GBA SP).

Seriously, I have no real idea as to where this came from…I don't even know what genre it is, or if there's a pairing o.o

Anyhoo, Enjoy!

**Note:** I edited this chapter a little, removing a few errors that I had added. I didn't know that Judas doesn't tell Kyle and them that he's Rutee's sister…so I edited that part out…along with a few minor tweaks

Translation:

Tou-san: father

Kaa-san: mother

Gomen: Sorry

-san: a formality used on names. Much like 'Mr.' or 'Mrs.'

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Judas sat back against a nearby tree, watching the night sky, the only sound being the fire crackling or the wind whistling. He was keeping watch for the group, which had stopped to camp out in a forest. Even if he wasn't on watch duty, he couldn't sleep. A lot was on his mind right now.

For one, the group had learned about his identity. He thought they would be shocked and instantly untrusting to him, but to his surprise, they had still allowed him to travel with them. Heck, it was Loni (Loni, of all people!) who had been the one to say 'Who's Leon? We only know Judas!' Judas smiled softly, looking at Loni's sleeping form. He would never say it out loud, but in his mind, he thanked the fool.

Right now, Loni was murmuring in his sleep. _Probably trying to get a date off his dream girl,_ Judas thought, chuckling lightly. He looked around at the other members of the group. Reala was sleeping quietly, as was Nanaly. Harold was quiet, though her hands twitched every so often in her sleep. _Must be doing some kind of experiment…_ Judas thought. He shivered slightly as the wind blew by. _Damn wind…_he thought, tugging his cape more securely around himself.

His violet eyes then drifted over to Kyle. Ah, yes. Kyle. The son of Stahn and Rutee, who was possibly just as stupid as his father was. His new nephew. That weighted heavily on Judas' mind. In all honesty, he never dreamed of having a nephew. Not during his lifetime. Kyle's eyes wandered and twitched slightly under his eyelids, and he was letting out soft moans. He was having a nightmare, no doubt. Judas frowned, adding another log to the fire as he watched Kyle closely.

Kyle gave a jolt, eyes snapping open. He lay there, panting slightly, wide-eyed. After a moment, he let out a sigh, closing his eyes. "Tou-san…" he murmured softly, tugging his blanket closer to him.

"You can't be expected to hang on to your father for every little thing, Kyle." Judas said. Kyle jumped slightly, looking up at Judas. "Judas-san!" he said, surprised. "What are you doing awake?"

Judas gave him a look. "I was picked for watch. Why else would I be awake?" he asked, a little sharp. Kyle blinked a bit, then looked down.

"Gomen," he said. "I was having a nightmare…" Judas watched Kyle for a moment. He stared off into the distance. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. Kyle stared up at Judas, then grinned. Eagerly, he picked up his blanket and crept next to Judas, taking a seat next to him, knees up to his chest and arms resting on them. Judas eyed the boy curiously, before taking the blanket and spreading it out between the two of them. The blanket was warm with use, which was more than welcomed by the masked swordsman.

"So, what was your dream?" Judas asked. It was probably something childish, like about the boogeyman, or of a terrifying monster, or…

"It was about when Tou-san died" was Kyle's reply.

Judas stared at Kyle, surprised. He wasn't expecting that.

"But…only this time…no one was there with me…" Kyle continued. "Not Kaa-san, not Loni, not even you…I was all alone…" he hugged his knees to his chest. "I was…afraid…of being alone…" Kyle trailed off, looking into the folds of the blanket. After a moment of silence, he was greeted with sudden warmth around his shoulders. He looked up to see Judas' arm wrapped around him.

"Calm down. It was just a nightmare." Judas said, still staring off. In any other circumstance he would have sounded harsh, but the hardness in his voice had been replaced by a soft, soothing tone. Kyle grinned a bit, leaning into Judas' shoulder. They sat like this for a while, before…

"Judas-san…? Or should I call you Leon-san…"

"You know, you don't have to address me with formalities all the time, or any differently," Judas said, looking down at Kyle. "Just because you know who I am doesn't mean you have to treat me differently. Besides, it sounds weird" he said, looking off again. Kyle giggled a bit.

"Okay, Judas-sa…I mean, Judas," he began, "You traveled with Tou-san, ne? Before you…err…"

"Before I died, yes." Judas finished for Kyle, rather plainly. "What are you getting at?"

"Well…" Kyle began slowly, "Um…How well did you know Tou-san?"

At this, Judas snorted a bit, grinning to himself. "Your father…" he began, looking at Kyle, "was an imbecile. Probably worse than you are right now. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had a mental illness of sorts. I had to keep a shock collar on him so he wouldn't run off and hurt himself with his stupidness." Kyle was a bit taken-aback by Judas' comments, but he couldn't help but giggle. Images of his father running around aimlessly, then being shocked by Judas filled into his mind, and they were quite funny.

"You're mother was no different," Judas continued. "She at least had brains, but back then, she was a greedy lens hunter. She only looked after herself and her own personal interests." He looked up at the sky. "I'm surprised she was able to calm down enough to settle down, with Stahn of all people. I guess some people can change…"

"Did you change?" Kyle asked, tilting his head to one side. "I mean, you died an' all, but…"

"…" Judas didn't reply. Had he changed? Underneath his skull mask, he was still the cold, stern traitor that was Leon Magnus. Yet even still…there were still those childish moments of him, where Emilio shone through, whether it be licking the plates clean of Nanaly's cooking or begging for an ice-cream cone or flan…

Receiving no reply for his question, Kyle then asked, "Judas, do you think I can become a hero? Just like Tou-san was?"

Judas was snapped from his thoughts by this question. He looked down at Kyle, blinking a bit. "Like your father?" he asked. He then looked off again. "No. You couldn't."

"Eh!?" Kyle nearly fell over with that reply. "But…but why not??" Judas looked up at the stars.

"You see those stars up there?" he asked. Kyle blinked, looking up. "Every one of them is different," Judas went on. "Not a single one is the same as another. That's how heroes are like. No two are the same." He looked back at Kyle. "So no, you could never become the hero your father was. If you DO end up a hero, you'll be unique, a hero on your own that none other can imitate. Do you understand?"

"Woa…" Kyle said, wide-eyed. It was his turn to look off into the distance. "A hero on my own…?" he repeated. That sounded so odd, and yet…sounded so true. He looked up at Judas and gave him a wide, toothy grin. Judas smirked back, tousling Kyle's hair.

"Get some sleep," Judas said, though it was a bit more of a command. "We're leaving early tomorrow, and if you sleep in again, I swear this time we'll leave you behind."

Kyle groaned at the thought, but then let out a wide yawn. "Nng…all right…" Kyle grumbled. Too tired to move back to his old spot, he instead curled up next to Judas, gripping the covers close to him. "'Night, Judas…" he murmured, eyes drooping.

"Wh…wait! I didn't mean..." Judas began to protest, but to no avail; Kyle had already fallen asleep at his side, snoring lightly. He sighed softly, looking down at his nephew. Kyle's face held a soft, peaceful expression on it, as most had during sleep. A small smile crept on Judas' face. The old Leon would never have allowed a small kid sleep on him.

Wrapping an arm around Kyle's shoulders, Judas leaned back against the tree, the warmth of both Kyle and the blanket making him drowsy. The fire was dying out, and would be burnt up within the hour, most likely. He closed his eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.

Perhaps he could change…or maybe he already had…

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Author's Note: Yea…as I said, I have no idea as to where that came from. I'm surprised I could get the characters' personalities, somewhat. Like most people, I had to read a translated, yet horribly written game script to understand the ToD2 characters. There's probably no real pairing in this, but it was cute, and fun to write.

Even if it WAS at 2:30 in the morning .

In any case, I hope you all enjoyed it! Please read and review!!


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